Monday, February 22, 2016

Thank you, Ms. Lee






I’m sure there are a lot of posts up about the loss of Harper Lee right now, and I decided to add my own. To Kill a Mockingbird is my all-time favorite book. I even named a dog Scout and a business The Mockingbird. That says a lot in itself.


I first read the book when I was young, and it was new. I’ve read that To Kill a Mockingbird is a controversial story. It wasn’t to me. To me, at the time, it was the story of a little girl and her brother, and the adventures they had as children. It was the demonstration of a wise and wonderful father who just happened to be a lawyer. I couldn’t put it down. I didn’t want the story to end.

I finished the book and put it on the shelf, knowing I’d read it again one day. Five or six readings later, it’s still my favorite book. Each time I read it I take away something different.

To me, the characters were real. Ms. Harper’s writing made me feel as though I was right there with them, watching what happened first hand. There were characters I adored, and there were those whom I detested. There were people in the story whom I pitied, and others who simply made me feel good.

Let’s not forget Boo Radley. The mystery surrounding him in the children’s eyes fascinated me. Dill was an inspired character with all the flaws of his age and lifestyle. Tom Robinson was a good man whose circumstances would change the lives of many.

The storyline? I learned a lot from it. Having been born and raised on the West Coast, the story covered things I didn’t know about at the time of the first reading. It was an eye-opener, but somehow not shocking.

Most of us have probably read a book that has this appeal – a book we won’t soon forget. There are a few others for me, but To Kill a Mockingbird is still Number One on my Hit Parade.

Harper Lee’s writing inspired me in many ways, but the fact that her characters came across as so down-to-earth and real was the biggest inspiration.

I waited for years for her to write another book that would entertain me the way the first one did, as did many other people. It didn’t happen until Go Set a Watchman came out recently. I just started reading it last night. So far it’s not grabbing me the way the first book did, but I’m only into it a few chapters.

I will say that from discussions with my family and older people I knew in my youth, I believe the story represented the era fairly realistically. While we can’t change the way things were, we can learn from them.

Good-bye, Harper Lee, and thank you!

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10 comments:

  1. I think most readers have a favorite book, one they've read and re-read many times. Mine is "Where are the Children?" by Mary Higgins Clark. The book inspired me to write and, when I met the author, many years later, she encouraged me to "write that novel."

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    1. I wish I'd had the opportunity to meet Harper Lee. Pat, I'm so glad you met Mary Higgins Clark. What a great day that must have been. Thank you for stopping in today!

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  2. Marja, this was a lovely tribute to Harper Lee because of your personal thoughts and feelings. Boo was my favorite, there was something special about him that touched me when I read for the first time(eons ago as a kid.)

    Thanks for this post, Marja. Very nice.

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    1. Thank you, Mad! I hope someday someone looks back at us and has warm feelings. Thank you so much for commenting!

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  3. I can't say that one single book is my very favorite, but I've read all the books by Agatha Christie, and each time I've read one, I got inspired to write. I don't know why. Something inside my brain just clicked. Very nice tribute to Harper Lee. I've never read, To Kill a Mockingbird, but I may pick it up in the future.

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    1. Evelyn, Agatha Christie is so very popular, but believe it or not, I've never read one of her books. I'm remiss in my reading scope. I'll have to start reading her. Thank you so much for stopping in!

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  4. As soon as I learned that Harper Lee had died, I thought of you, Marja, because I knew she was your favorite. My favorite author is (was?) Mary Stewart. She bedazzled me from the the first book of hers that I read (My Brother Michael) and contributed to my wanderlust and desire to write.

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    1. I cut my teeth, so to speak, on Mary Stewart and Victoria Holt, Pat. Thanks to them, I moved on and kept finding new authors to admire. : ) Thank you so much for stopping in!

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  5. I agree with you wholeheartedly about Harper Lee. And about Go Set A Watchman? A great disappointment. In fact, I gave it away. A book that is sort of similar, although it isn't in the same league as Mockingbird, is Whistling Past the Graveyard. For the benefit of those who haven't discovered it. I felt as if I knew every single character in Mockingbird, and seeing the movie enriched the experience, which is rarely the case. RIP, Ms. Harper. You'll never be forgotten.

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    1. I also read Whistling Past the Graveyard, Dorothy, and I agree that it was similar. Excellent book. Thank you so much for commenting!

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